EVERETT — The banner for Colby Tower — promising panoramic views of the water and mountains — hangs on a building next to where the nine-story tower could rise in the future.
Construction on the handsomely designed structure, with nine luxury condominiums on the upper floors and mixed-use commercial space below, originally was scheduled to start last fall.
No date has been set for it or several other big projects around downtown Everett.
It’s not a unique situation for commercial developments. The chilly economy and a tighter lending climate are delaying or killing projects around the nation.
Timothy Corpus, Colby Tower’s developer, said five of the nine condos are reserved and he’s trying to secure leases for the building’s commercial space. That needs to happen for the building to go forward.
“We are confident we will be able to pre-lease space sufficient to satisfy lending requirements,” he added Wednesday.
Also still looking for financing is Maritime Trust, the Chicago-based company that is partnering with the Port of Everett in a $400 million redevelopment on a portion of the city’s waterfront. The Port Gardner Wharf project would include some 660 condominiums, along with a mix of retail shops, restaurants, offices and other buildings.
No specific date has been set to commence work on the first condos, but Maritime’s contract with the port says it must begin at least 25 percent of the work by 2011.
Maritime had received a commitment for initial financing from Merrill Lynch, but that was withdrawn as the company dropped that type of business during the mortgage meltdown, said John Mohr, the port’s executive director.
“The development of the condominiums are at a standstill right now,” Mohr said, adding that Maritime has expectations of financing from other sources but doesn’t have a firm commitment right now.
He noted that Maritime’s president, Bert Mears, talked last week with people who had earlier shown interest in buying a condo. “I was pleasantly surprised (with the continued interest),” Mohr said. “They mostly were concerned that the price would not go up.”
At the Tuesday port commission meeting, officials said the state Department of Ecology had just approved the port’s cleanup of pollution in the soil near the project area.
Without that approval, the port “wouldn’t have been able to get started even if the financing had gone through,” said Connie Niva, port commissioner. The port’s Jerry Heller agreed, noting bank financing and a city permit would require the state to sign off on the cleanup work.
To keep the project going, the port has begun work on the utilities in the area and has also taken over development of the Craftsman District, a location for marine-related businesses, from Maritime.
While a number of smaller condo developments in downtown Everett also are in limbo, a few projects are moving along without delay.
Furthest along is the new Elks Lodge, a five-story building along Hoyt Avenue that includes nine condos in the upper floors. The Elks used proceeds from the sale of their outdated and too-large lodge across the street to jumpstart the new development.
Meanwhile, on the site of the old Elks Lodge, Skotdal Real Estate’s 200-unit Library Place is under way, with completion scheduled by 2010. Skotdal Real Estate also has initial permits for an 18-story building at the northwest corner of Wetmore and Hewitt avenues, but has not set a date for that development.
With Skotdal Real Estate’s long list of previous developments and sizable real estate holdings, financing is not the issue for the project. Instead, timing of that project is dependent on when “the market will support it,” said president Craig Skotdal.
Demand for apartments remains strong, however, so developer Lobsang Dargey is pushing ahead toward construction of a six-story building with 150 apartments and street-level stores at the northwest corner of Pacific and Rucker avenues. The city recently approved vacating an alley for that project, which requires the relocation of utility lines before heavy construction can begin, Dargey said.
Allan Giffen, the city of Everett’s planning director, said a few other large projects are pursuing permits, including a residential development along the south end of Broadway that includes more than 100 units and a 150-room senior living center at the corner of Lombard and Pacific avenues. Along the Snohomish River, the city’s riverfront development is scheduled to begin sometime next year.
“We haven’t heard from anybody saying they’re pulling out projects,” Giffen said.
He said approved projects, such as Colby Tower, can delay construction for up to two years after receiving approval without having to go through permitting again.
Tom Hoban, president of Coast Real Estate, said experts in the field are expecting the credit markets to improve over the next 12 to 18 months, which should help out projects that have been delayed because of financing problems.
While he works to get his project started, Timothy Corpus said his belief in Everett’s potential hasn’t changed. Despite the economy and lending markets right now, “we have strong convictions about the continued viability of downtown Everett and its unique location in the Pacific Northwest.”
Business Editor Mike Benbow contributed to this story.
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com
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